flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

I was also having nose strikes on takeoff because of the soft Robart tires and single wire (3/16 I drilled it out) nose gear. I went to the 3/16th Fults with no
more problems. You won't regret it

jaaron01

Did you have any problems with the Wheel Well for the nose wheel to retract up into? Do you have any photo of the Nose area?

Thanks
Jim

jaaron01

Just to throw this out there, has anyone tried / attempted to convert the SU-27 kit from AK Models, over to the SU-35, with the Canard? From looking at photo's of both the SU-27/ SU-35, it doesn't look like to much of a difference. And in my opinion the SU-35 has a much higher "cool" factor.

Any thoughts out there? Would be interesting to see a SU-35 version with working Canards? It's very feasible to modify and have working Canards, just not sure if it would be worth it or not.

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

When I switched to the Fults nose gear I had to remove a portion of the center former and make a new hatch. I also put a servo
in the aft portion of the bay to run the nose gear. It was an easy fix and took any slop out of stearing. I will try to get some pixs for you.

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

Any of you give me help on how to add pictures to a reply.

jaaron01

When you click on the reply button you should see the "Click here to upload images and files!" at the bottom of the box. Click that and then click on Browse, find the Picture you want to upload from your desktop or were ever and load'em up.

Jim

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

Jim, Hope these images help, it was an easy fix. Bill

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

Jim, I tried to upload pic off the "reply upload",but when I chose the pix it uploaded fine but the images didnt appear in the post preview I had to go a different route, Bill

jaaron01

Just FYI....the photos wont show in the post preview, they only show once you actually post your review.

jim

jaaron01

Fedex has delivered the kit today, and inventory and building is about to commence. Now if the retracts would just arrive in the mail, I'd be a happy camper for Christmas. I understand having to cut the kit, which took about 2 weeks, but did Spring Air Retracts have to build the units as well?

Well time to get building, I've got the building board all cleaned off and ready to mess up again.

Jim

PLANE JIM

My Feedback: (109)

no they did not have to build them-they are just making you wait

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

I keep forgetting to post this- if anyone else is contemplating building one of these, drop me a PM, as I want to sell mine (NIB).

iFLYrc_Vic

My Feedback: (6)

Here is a photo of my flanker before I lost it due to a pinched fuel line. Hit a small tree on the dead stick landing resulting in some unknown internal damge. Might rebuild one day in the future. This is the model they show on the AKM web site!

ftjets

Very nice looking plane Vic. I thought mine would be delivered today but i guess "estimated delivery date" is just that. I can't help but think that it just doesn't look that big. When i ordered it, i was thinking about putting a ST75 in it. Would i be that dissapointed in performance with a 75 or has anyone even tried to put one in? I hate to leave it laying around waiting for another kit and have to justify buying another engine. According to the picture, it looks pretty much the same size as my GP F-14 which is what the 75 came out of and it flew great on it with Robart retracts.

jaaron01

xviper: I got mine today, and after unrolling the prints, I have to question the power that a .91 would provide. I've got a Mag .91 laying on the shelf that I was planning on slapping in there. There isn't much ply, basically everything is light 1/4 balsa, with a couple of 1/16 ply pieces over that, so not a lot of weight. I'm not sure how much modifing I'm going to do, but it sure seems like it wouldn't be able to handle much abuse.

Of course what that said, you'd be surprise what balsa in the correct configuration can withstand.

I wouldn't go any smaller that a .91, if you want any kind of performance.

Jim

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

That one in the video that comes with the kit has a Jett 90, and it hauls butt.

I think the Magnum 91 is good in applications that require a lot of low end punch, but not a lot of speed. I have one on my Hangar 9 Sopwith Camel, using a 15x5 Zinger wood prop, and it's just marvelous. I wouldn't put one on a high performance aircraft like the Sukhoi, tho. They just don't seem to wind up all that well. I used a similar engine, the OS 91FX on my Pavel Bosak PITN F-4 Phantom, and ended up really regretting it. That plane would still be around if I'd used a Jett, I'm sure. The OS has since been located on a Big Stik 60, with a 15x6 prop, and it's doing a great job.

jaaron01

Mustang Fever: I'm going to try the Mag.91 with a Jett muffler, and if it don't work I'll look at upgrading, but I hate to have this engine just sitting on the shelf. I've gotta at least give it a fitting chance........

I'm still toying with the idea of attempting to change the aircraft over to the Su-35 and adding the Canards...........I think it would be interesting.............

Jim

jaaron01

Okay so I got up early this morning and started working on the plane. First I thought I'd do the main part of the Horizontal Stab, without putting the elevators on, as I'm still waiting on parts from Tower. First thing I notice is the wood selection, some of the 1/4 inch wood is hard as a rock, and I was almost unable to us my hobby knife to cut it free, and then on the next piece, don't use much pressure as it will dent the wood, it's that soft.

So okay I'll deal with that, then I start pinning pieces to the board for gluing, making sure that all the parts fit nice and neat. Guess what 1 part doesn't line up with the other part. I flipped, turned, cursed, and flipped again. Conclusion is that part is just plain cut wrong.

Oh well, for $129.00, and a laser cut kit, this can easily be resolved, and I'm still happy with the kit, thus far. However I'm seriously considering Glassing this airplane instead of just Monokote, due the the extreme softness of some of this Balsa. Also here's a photo of the Stab, with a yard stick showing just how big this little airplane is.

Jim

ftjets

I guess either the picture Vic posted is deceiving or my eyes are just worn out but it's hard to picture the stab at almost a yard. If i'm lucky, fedex will make an appearance today so i can see for myself. I was puzzled by the price for what appeared to be a nice relatively large kit but i got in on the holiday special and got it for $119 and change delivered. I also thought about glassing mine but have never glassed a wood kit before. There's always a first time for everything i guess. And, looks like i'll be putting in a request for a new 90 around birthday time.

Mustang Fever

My Feedback: (2)

Typical modern jet fighter- almost as much butt as it has wing.

theo63

jaaron,wow that part was off huh none of my parts have been off at all,one thing i can tell you though is watch your glue and do not use to much as later in the build i got glue in some places that needs parts fitted into them later and i had to spend alot of time witteling it out

i just completed getting all my retracts hooked up and got them working last night what a pain that is,the air valve that they sent me was different from the one in the instructions and no marks on the valve saying which is inlet and outlet,and yes i had it backwards

oh and you might wanna hook up your airline when you drop your retracts in was a pain putting the tubeing on the nipples

i took some pictures last night but was too late to get them on here

jaaron01

theo63: So far that's been the only part that was off. And as for over gluing, I'm always sparing in that area, until I know for sure what goes where. I've been in that spot before and had to dremel off epoxy that ended up in the wrong area's. I put the main Hor Stab together, and the rudder, but left off actually hooking up the control rods, and epoxing any of that. I'm going to use the 1/8 control rod for the elevators and the rudder. As well as cut and place a spruce strip for the wire to actually insert into for the elevator and rudder. I'm not a big fan of using Thin CA to stiffen up the holes that the rod inserts into on the rudder/elevator. ( sounds confusing, but I'll post pic's when I get to that point.

I've got the fuselage started and have glued the formers F-4 through F-8 in place along with F-2. However my retracts have still not arrived, and I'm going to give them a call today and see what's up. I didn't want to start sheeting the fuselage until I had the front retract installed, and secured. But seems like I'm not going to be able to get much further today without them.

As for Glassing I've never done that either, and really don't want to. But the softness of the wood in places really makes me nervous. We'll see what happens as construction rolls on. Maybe things will start to fall into place, and easy my worries.

As for the Stab, yes it's huge. This plane is diffinately deceiving in apprearance/size. However being bigger should make it alot easier to see/fly.

Jim

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

I sprayed all surfaces first with lacquer ( some guys use VO 5 hairspray) the covering sticks better and takes care of soft balsa. I also used Ultracote seems to work better on the curves

jaaron01

I'm not following you......are you talking about instead of Glassing....use lacquer to cure the soft balsa??????

Jim

flyer35

My Feedback: (33)

Jim, before you use covering ( Monocote,Ultracote) you spray on lacquer (VO5 hairspray if you read the can is lacquer) and it will seal the wood and make a better surface for the covering to adhere to. After I cover the plane I will also spray lacquer on areas that have a tendency to come off. If you saw my pics I pin stripped the fuse and then I sealed them with lacquer. It's not poly urethane. I read this several years ago in an article on covering and have used it ever since. Try it on a piece of scrap blasa sheeting